How did you first find out about the Prius?

BTW...you're awaiting the 'V'? Awesome! Will you post pics once it arrives? I'd really like to see it. Those alloys rule! Wish I could go all out, but my mortgage and other responsibilities whisper, "No, no, no." (Is that Effingham...Illinois?)

 

I was working for Qualcomm Inc in San Diego CA. They were using the first generation Prius for company taxis. Qualcomm had several building all over the place. Employees that needed to go from one building to another building that was several miles away would call a Qualcomm taxis telephone number, a first generation Prius would pick you up and take you to the building. That was the first time that I saw and rode in a Prius. I like how quiet it was running when it was moving at slow speed. And I like the gas mileage that it was getting. I left Qualcomm Inc (retired) in June 2007. In July 2007, I brought a 2007 Prius and since then, I was sold on the Prius. May 29th of 2009, I brought a 2010 Prius V w/Adv. Tech package.

 

In February 2001, I had a cube neighbor, Asian gal who just bought an 01 Prius. I still remember looking under the hood, wow, never saw anything like that before. We also loaded 5 in it and headed for lunch.

 

Not sure... I remember a coworker bought a used 1st gen Prius (when that was the latest gen) used off EBay motors. Another coworker was a very early adopter. He pre-ordered sight unseen and told me about how they revealed to him/sent him little bits, like the owner's manual months (?) before the car was available. At the time, I had little interest in buying other than curiosity about the technology.

When the 04 came out, I felt it was a huge improvement and even test drove one when I happened to be at Burien Toyota (in WA state) when accompanying someone I was dating (she was down there for a repair or a part). I loved all the cool whiz bang features and the ICE shutdown but was disappointed in the acceleration. Yet, I had little interest in buying...

The wait lists were very long back then. I would've been ~#95 on the list and would've had to wait several months. I didn't think at the time I'd be buying one in the future. Who knew?

Eventually, my frequent visits to San Francisco and being stuck idling in traffic a lot in my conventional cars, the upcoming tax credit, the California HOV stickers, rising gas prices (in 2005) and neat technology got me thinking about it. I put down a deposit in late 05 (still unsure if I was going to buy) and got a call from my dealer while at CES in January 06 saying one of my choices (of color and package) was on its way.

 

Back in 2005 I was driving a Honda Odyssey (which I loved) but only got 22 MPG. Gas prices started heading to $3/gal and I was spending $40 to $50/week driving the kids around. Got to be too expensive so I started doing research on high milage cars and came across the Prius.

August of 2005 I got on the waitlist and January 2006 picked up my car. I can't wait for my new 2010. Looking very forward to all the new goodies. :cheer2:

 

I read an article in 1997 about the new "hybrid" cars and thought it interesting but never expected to buy one.

http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacad...828&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=6742&docNo=2

 

OK, another bloody pointless thread, but I will respond because it reminds me of how things can change...

First time I saw the Prius I went "that ugly slow piece of c... can't be a Toyota... it looks like a tank of war" now I have one on order...

 

It was early 2007, and I saw an article on a living green site about someone who has cut their footprint really small.
They live in Montana, I think, and part of the article was discussing how well their Prius managed most of the Winters, and what good mileage they got.
I told DH "hey, we should take a look at this car. Sounds like it would be even better than the Malibu"... a little bit of Internet research, found Prius chat...
So, we toddled over to a Toyota dealer, and bought one.

Just like that.

 

How about now?

Traditional "sedan" has the hood and trunk at the same level and then the passenger cabin sticking out above them. Nothing in nature has this kind of shape. It has the "modular" design where this is the hood with engine inside. Then you have doors for drive and passenger to enter. Then in the rear there is a trunk to put stuffs.

Prius has a natural shape that signal unity. You can draw an arc from the front bumper to the rear spoiler. The entire car is one.

I even see a voluptuous shape with round roof curve that is full of interior space. You can cup the entire Prius with your hand, like a mouse. Prius shape is half of a heart. If you put two Priuses with wheels touching each other, you get a heart or the shape of a woman's hip.

 

That's sexy.

 

That's imagination!!! I'm impressed... I think the current design is all right now, but I have trained my eyes to like it... my wife is still not impressed by it!

 

I had wanted a first generation Honda insight--the two seater.

No Honda dealer seemed to either have one nor were they interested in ordering one for me--they all tried to switch me to one of their suv's.
I researched for an alternative and discovered the prius.

I still believe that the two seater original Insight would be a more righteous commuter car for my circumstances.
But Honda's loss equals Toyota's gain
regards
Froley

 

In 2003 the textbook I was using included a few paragraphs about alternative forms of energy for cars and improving energy efficiency with regenerative brakes. I wanted to know more about the brakes and searched the internet. That's how I learned about the Prius and became impressed.

Saw one for the first time when shopping for a Honda CR-V at CarMax in 2006. My husband felt claustrophobic in the CR-V. As we were walking out we spotted a red Prius showcased under those lights that make it sparkle. It was way prettier than I expected and way cheaper than my husband expected. We did a little internet research and bought a red one from the Toyota dealer the next day for the same price as the used one.

The salesman said he's heard there were chat rooms dedicated to the Prius so I checked it out and found John's website and PriusChat. Both have been great sources of knowledge and entertainment.

 

Winter 97/98 had an engineering discussion about a new Toyota transmission that was a planetary gear drive. As the part about the added electric motor drives was left out it didn't make much sense. If that input is just fixed it's just a cordless drill gear set.

 

We bought a lake home about 60 miles from our home and we went down and back many times. We have a Buick SUV that gets 19mpg and were thinking about buying a vibe as fuel was beginning to be an issue early last year. We were fueling the Buick at a Casey's when a lady pulled in next to us with a new Prius. I said how do you like your car? She said "I love it! I get over 50 MPG." I said" What is it?" She said"Its a Prius made by Toyota". My wife was listening to this conversation and when I got back in the car she said"Tomorrow we are going to get a Prius". We bought a used 2005 Prius the next day. I just sold it today and am really wanting our new IV with solar to show up very soon. I stumbled on to John's Stuff and learned so much about our car. Then from his site I found this site. You can get hooked on Priuschat reading everyday what is happening. I guess that is our story.